In this episode of In the Lead with UCEA, Executive Director Dr. Mónica Byrne-Jiménez talks with Macon L. Tucker III, Director of the Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative (ECPI) for Baltimore City Public Schools.

Mónica and Macon talk about the transformative work happening in the City Schools district of Baltimore. Macon outlines the evolution and impact of the ECPI and how it aims to cultivate inclusive and equity-focused school leaders.

Key elements of that goal include detailed partnerships with local universities, internal collaboration across various departments, and extensive community involvement. Their conversation highlights substantial initiatives being undertaken, showcasing the district's serious commitment to systemic change and student success.

In the Lead with UCEA is produced by University FM.

On turning schoolhouse into a community building

[04:15] One of the biggest initiatives that I've been a part of in city schools is our portfolio work around renovating, closing, and even rebuilding new schools. If you look over the course of time, we had some of the oldest buildings in the state as well as up and down the East Coast as far as building structures were concerned. And so throughout this process we have been able to either rebuild, renovate 28 now, I think, schools across our district. And so that has allowed us to really turn that schoolhouse into a community building that is able to really shape and foster learning for all students but then reach out into the community as well so that we could be community schools. That has also allowed us to be able to bring in equity center leaders who are also able to foster and help grow communities.

How the partnership with the mayor’s office helped transform Baltimore City Schools

[05:13] Baltimore is one of those cities that you really don't hear a lot about, right? But our commitment to education has allowed us to really champion the work that we're doing. I'll also say the city schools, I think, has a great partnership with our mayor's office to ensure that there's a collaboration of how we are approaching the support that we're giving to our students and our school communities because we would not be able to change a city the way we've been able to do within the last 10 years under Dr. Santelises’ time without that tight partnership. So, Baltimore is definitely a unique place. It has its pockets. You look at those historical maps, and you have seen where redlining exists, right? But now when you start to look at our new academic data that's coming out, you see where the pockets are expanding as far as, like, growth and student achievement and resources and things like that. So we've definitely seen a transformation over the past 20 years since I've been here.

What made the partnership between university partners and city schools work

[13:30] There's a Baltimore context that talks about redlining all the historical context pieces, right? And so that was a foundational piece that everyone in the DPT (district partnership team) was able to be normed on. So then when we come into spaces, we leave titles at the door, we leave biases at the door, and we come into the space as centered as possible. That gave us the tool to actually engage and have authentic conversation and have transparent conversation. Unfortunately we had to sunset that at the end of last school year because of some new legislation that has come about. But those key principles are still things that we're able to still lean into and still abide by when we are in community together. I think that helped build the relationship between university partners and city schools. And so with that being one of those foundational key elements, I think that's where we've been able to see the yielded success of how we've been able to partner with our university partners specifically.

• ECPI | Wallace Foundation

In this episode of In the Lead with UCEA, Executive Director Dr. Mónica Byrne-Jiménez talks with Dr. Carla Finkelstein, associate professor in the Department of Instructional Leadership and Professional Development at Towson University.

Mónica and Carla talk about the evolution of Towson's partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) through the Equity Centered Pipeline Initiative (ECPI). Carla shares her experience in elementary and secondary education and the story of her role in founding the Green School of Baltimore.

Carla notes how historical Towson's collaboration with BCPS is, and the context surrounding it. She explains the transformative impact of ECPI on their program, the importance of relationship-building, and the development of structures for sustaining equity-centered leadership pipelines. Their conversation highlights Towson's efforts to integrate professional development, co-teaching models, and shared leadership practices for the benefit of all cohorts in their programs.

In the Lead with UCEA is produced by University FM.

Why Carla saw the Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative as a promising opportunity

[05:51] I would say that our leadership programs at Towson had, for sure, some equity-centered commitments prior to our joining ECPI, but that, to be honest, we knew that there was room for improvement in our programs in terms of our cohesiveness across instructors and the coherence of our through-lines across courses.

On why collaboration was hard to come by before ECPI

[08:31] I would say before ECPI, all of the faculty in our department are scholars of education and educational leadership, and also have significant practitioner experience, most of us in our local context. But I would say that, like many universities, our time teaching and preparing for teaching was primarily isolated in many ways, and that any impetus to collaborate was a little hard to come by. We had monthly faculty meetings, like most universities do, and during those times, we might gather instructors who were all teaching the same course and investigate what we were doing. But it wasn't nearly enough time to really be diving into a shared understanding of what we were hoping to provide our students with, and what, kind of, leadership practices we envisioned they would walk away from.

The often overlooked importance of building relationships in university-district partnerships

[14:53] I think the time spent building relationships also doesn’t always get the attention that it deserves. Some of that building relationships was around our professional commitments, and some of it was really getting to know each other personally as well. But the idea that my colleagues and I really came into this initiative having firm commitments to wanting to be of service to the district, that’s not the norm. Partnerships between universities and districts have historically tended to be primarily transactional. And so, even though we had that desire, it took significant amounts of time to really understand each other and know the depth of our values and commitments in order to find where those connections and leverage points really were.

How understanding Baltimore's context shapes today’s educational practices

[16:40] A deep understanding of the social and political history of the city of Baltimore is key to understanding how we move in our work. If you don't know how redlining worked in Baltimore, then you won't have a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of why our neighborhoods are the way they are, why economic stratification remains the way that it has been in Baltimore for so long. And of course, all of those things affect the way that our schools run. I mean, I would say that, kind of, commitment towards understanding and being respectful of context is true wherever you are, but it's important to us that we know what that is specifically in Baltimore City.

• Carla Finkelstein | Towson University
• Carla Finkelstein | LinkedIn Profile
• ECPI | Wallace Foundation

In this episode of In the Lead with UCEA, Executive Director Dr. Mónica Byrne-Jiménez talks with Dr. Darryl Williams, Interim Assistant Chair for Administration in the Dept of Teacher Education and Professional Development,Professor of Practice, and Program Director at Morgan State University.

Mónica and Darryl talk about Darryl’s background and the work he’s doing at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. Darryl explains the strategic partnership between Morgan State University's School of Education and Urban Studies and Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) and elaborates on the Equity Center Principal Pipeline Initiative (ECPI) and its aim to develop sustainable and equitable leadership within the BCPS.

Darryl emphasizes the importance of relevant, community-focused education and highlights the collaborative efforts that have strengthened the principal preparation program. They also reflect on the historical impact of Morgan State University as a historically black college and university (HBCU) and the critical importance of trust and communication in building effective institutional partnerships.

In the Lead with UCEA is produced by University FM.

On strengthening the pipeline

[08:01] I came at the beginning of year three of the partnership. So, I think the contribution that I saw when I came was really having key individuals come together and looking at the redesign of the principal pipeline. So, that included pre-service, those who were studying to become an administrator, those who then finished the program at the university, and those who were seeking placement as a principal intern or a first-year principal. So, in order to do that, the university had to sit down with the school officials and really look at what we were trying to strengthen in that pipeline. And so, that involved key individuals from the school system as well as the School of Education. And I think what we contribute that's unique for Morgan, and again, I go back to that strategic plan, there are goals that the School of Education and Urban Studies had. But we could also partner with other schools within the university, such as the School of Business and Management.

On his focus on student recruitment

[12:57] When I arrived, I had a focus and interest in one of the quality measures, which was the candidate admissions. So, that's about the recruitment. How were we recruiting? So, we went from a simple trifold that had some information to then being a part of many of the leadership symposiums, many of the recruitment efforts in the school system, (and) opportunities to have QR codes. So, we became a little bit more high-tech, much more visible.

How Baltimore City’s uniqueness strengthened the partnership

[16:59] When you think about Baltimore City, you think about the richness of its history, you think about some of the challenges, you think about how they have built this pipeline to really help our leaders to be successful leaders to turn schools around. Sometimes there may not be as many resources. Sometimes there's great resources. Sometimes we are looking at small schools, we're looking at large schools. Sometimes we're looking at the phenomenon of a K-8 school. Those are unique. That's the context in which we have in our city, but what a great opportunity to really prepare students to take on those responsibilities. You know, I think about the history, I think about the resources, and just to see the partnership that the City schools really want the students to be successful because they're their staff. And so, we want them to be successful because a part of that is we get to say, "Yes, they are Morgan graduates." And also, our accreditation, we continue to provide evidence around our accreditation of how our graduates are doing. So, I think it's a win-win.

• Dr. Darryl Williams | Morgan State University
• Dr. Darryl Williams | National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities
• Dr. Darryl Williams | LinkedIn Profile
• ECPI | Wallace Foundation